Nice Find

[10mm-migration]

Hi all,

 

I'm a silver age comic buff and have been for years. My mother, in her sixties now, is moving into a new house. In the process of doing so, she decided to give away a few of her father's things. He had been killed in WWII and she never liked to talk much about it or rumage through his belongings.

 

My mother handed me a steel box that she said she believed had some coins in it. Saying that I could keep what I found. Interested, I opened it (fun, no key) and discovered many nice older silver pieces (late 1800's) and eight quarter eagles dated 1907. The eagles were wrapped inidividually in cloth and look to be in very nice condition.

 

Even more interesting were a series of half dollar pieces from 1937. After some quick research, they turn out to be the Antietam Commemorative piece. My family is originally from the city in Maryland were they were commissioned. There were five of them. Two with little toning, three with somewhat dark toning. They appear to be completely without any type of wear at all. All were also individually wrapped in cloth but are said to have been in a cardboard holder for most of their life. My mother says she remembers the cardboard back and will look for it. I'll throw up some pictures asap. I always wanted to have some nice CGC ready early silver age comics pop out of the woodwork. Interesting that it ended up being some fine coins!

[nOoBiEeE-migration]

Nice finds, I would love to see some pictures when you have the chance. Any questions you have will surely be answered by any of the great people on this board...

 

Oh yeah.. Welcome

[Hoot]

The stuff that dreams are made of! Great story. You may want to think about a good storage medium for each piece, such a a nice Capital Plastics holder. You might also wish to send them to NGC for grading, more for the sake of preservation and ease of handling than anything else.

 

Hoot

[Bruceswar]

I want to see the Antiems... Show pics....

[10mm-migration]

The three that have dark toning are giving me a little concern. The toning around the edge is quite dark, though thin and does not appear to be buildup of any type. It also extends, though much lighter in color, into the center of the coins. Should I consider have these three sent to NCS?

 

I have attached a file to show the characteristics of it. Please keep in mind that this is a scanner image is not all that good. The grey you see actually has a pretty high shine to it.

[10mm-migration]

Same coin, reverse...

[10mm-migration]

For kicks and grins, attached above is an image of one of the quarter eagles...

[Leothelion]

eight quarter eagles dated 1907

 

Depending on their mint state grades, a tidy little fortune you have there! Congrats to you.

 

Leo

[TomB]

That's an interesting find and gives you a tangible connection to the grandfather you never met.

 

The toning you describe, and image, on the Antietams is quite common for the issue and is also indicative of tab toning. Tab toning occurs from the cardboard holder that the coin was issued in. You probably know not to attempt to clean or otherwise alter the coins already, but I would feel remiss if I did not mention it. Assuming the Antietams were never mishandled, they would likely grade MS64-MS66 with that toning. This would give each Antietam a value of $450-$750. The '07 quarter eagles are an interesting date, was it the date of your great-grandmother's or great-grandfather's birth? Assuming that they are also unaltered, and are mint state, their values would range from about $225-$800 each. If there are truly exceptional pieces in the group, which is unlikely, then they would be worth in excess of $1,000 each.

 

Neat find.

[EZ_E]

10mm,

 

Obviously, you're grandfather was a man with sense! He set back some nice coins for you .

 

In my experience, most "hoards" of coins of the like are usually just junk coins.

 

Congratulations!

[10mm-migration]

Thanks everyone for your your kind and profressional responses. No special date on record for 1907. I think that my grandfather or his dad must have decided to make an investment. The Antietam coins are a bit easier to figure out for me. I grew up about a twenty minute ride from the battlefield. Everyone in our area has been there. Even during grade school, just about all kids get a day trip out there with the class.

 

My great grandfather was a well established businessman living in Hagerstown, Maryland. I have found a couple other cases where he had made donations to local societies. It seems logical to me that he knew some folks that were involved with the Antietam Historical Society, which was the catalyst to have the coins minted. Thanks again everyone for your assistance. I'm going to send the coins off to NGC to have them slabbed. I'll let you know the results.